Crankshaft by Tom Batiuk and Dan Davis for January 24, 2024

Not half as much as this strip.

“Do you?”

He only bites curmudgeons who won’t follow instructions.

As usual, (JOKE IN FOURTH PANEL)

So: He tries to run over children, leaves grandmas in the freezing rain, destroys mailboxes, and now—He hates pets! What a COOL GUY, no wonder some people love this strip! As many of you have said, you identify with him. And you who do: Please stay the heck away from me.

Only if you are not doing your exercises correctly.

I thought you said your dog doesn’t bite!He’s not my dog.

Rover bites old geezer’s noses off!

Always the “cautious Crank”!!!!!!!!

Love how the “gentle therapy dog” scowls at Cranky.Solid judge of character.

90% of them seem to be retrievers of some sort

Thank goodness for therapy pets! They seem to calm some humans down in a painful situation like physical therapy. (my experience.)

Therapy dogs are trained not to bite, Ed. However, please be advised that any animal will attack if sufficiently provoked.

Dogs usually bite when threatened or abused. Normally they just want to be loved.

You’re just priceless Ed only if you’re grumpy

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Okay.

Ooh, check out the young therapist flirting with Ed in P3. Rubbing his upper thigh. Now it’s getting interesting!

“No, but in your case, he’ll make an exception!”

A significant portion of the readership can relate to the life situations we follow Crankshaft through and appreciate the subtle humor accordingly. The rest can learn something if they will.

The dog is drawn like he is a real dog in Batiuk and Davis’ lives. :-)

i bet she wouldnt put that hand there if cranker was twenty years younger

Where’s Mopey Pete?

Cranky is the one apt to bite.

My first thought: is this Buddy, Wally Winkerbean’s Magic PTSD Therapy Dog, borrowed from the “Funky Winkerbean” library? If so, does this mean that TimeMop® the Nudger™ (and the Rather Elegant Solution) cured Wally’s PTSD so that he no longer needs Buddy’s services? Or is Wally now curled up in the fetal position under his bed, having a horrible combat flashback triggered by the fumes from Montoni’s pizza [sic] ovens?

My second thought: nah, can’t be Buddy. Drawn in too much photo-realistic detail, far more convincing than any of the humans in the strip. So now I suspect that having found no acceptable dog clip art in the Crankshaft Reusable Art Pantry, they gave us a clip from the James Allen “Mark Trail” days.

Aww, that’s cute.

Why do the haters bother to read the strip?

That poor girl is very brave, touching Crank like that…. Yeeech…

Unseen first panel:

Ed: “Here. Grab my leg and we’ll talk about the first thing that pops up.”

Dog: I can bite him, right?

Probably not but he could make an exception for you…..